Category: Books

Tidy Tidbits: Online Escape

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VIEWING

My recent screen viewing has run the gamut from social justice to World War II to Hasidic Jews.  None of them light pieces, but all a diversion from reading about COVID-19.

Dark Waters (Amazon Prime)

This film, starring Mark Ruffalo as an earnest, determined corporate lawyer who takes on the DuPont Company, has echoes of Jonathan Harr’s book, A Civil Action, about a water contamination case in Massachusetts.  That book was excellent, and I imagine the film version was good as well.  Although it is well intentioned and a tale where good wins out over corporate greed, Dark Waters is sometimes plodding, and everyone assumes what the outcome will be.  I’d give it a B overall.

World on Fire (Masterpiece, PBS Passport)

Following several families, this series initially focuses on the home front in Britain, Poland, and Berlin in 1939-1940 as the Nazis invade Poland, then Belgium and France.  The younger generation enlists in the Resistance or joins the armed forces.  In Poland, Kasia becomes a killer; Harry, well born and British, in love with two women, is an Army officer; while Lois performs for the troops and brother Tom is a sailor.  Helen Hunt as radio reporter Nancy Campbell in Berlin provides yet another perspective as does German business owner Herr Rossler whose daughter is an epileptic. From different social classes, they are all linked by a desire to survive the terrors of war.  This series is graphic and not for the faint of heart.   

Unorthodox (Netflix)

Deborah Feldman (wikipedia.com)

This short series (just four episodes) traces Esther Shapiro’s escape from life in the restricted Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn to coming alive in Berlin.  Married at just 17, she leaves her husband behind and when she arrives in Germany, she has never been to a concert, never used a computer, and never eaten ham.  Based on Deborah Feldman’s memoir:  Unorthodox:  The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Routes, the series is a moving and sensitive account of one woman’s personal courage.  Highly recommended! 

NOVEL PLEASURE

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

(nytimes.com)

This is the latest novel by King, author of Euphoria, which I loved.  I liked Writers & Lovers, but didn’t love it in the same way as the earlier work.  Perhaps because of the generational divide between me and Casey, a 31-year old aspiring novelist, who definitely doesn’t have her act together.  Her life is falling apart with mountains of credit card debt, a so-so job as a waitress in a Harvard Square restaurant, and overwhelming grief over the recent death of her mother.  Casey is operating in a world dominated by men, be it the successful writers whose success she envies, her landlord who questions what she might have to say in a novel, and the male chefs and waiters who are sometimes harassing.  She is needy and unsettled until two men, one a much older widower with children and the other a laidback academic who is a contemporary, offer solace and the possibility of love.  King’s writing is sprightly, and the depictions of Cambridge environs familiar to me. I enjoyed the book more about halfway through when Casey acquires a sense of purpose. And I love the art on the book jacket !  (~JWFarrington)

Note: Header photo is of Helen Hunt in World on Fire (nytimes.com)

Tidy Tidbits: Latest Diversions

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WISHING AND HOPING….

Like the song, I imagine many of us are wishing and hoping that Covid-19 goes away soon.  But we’re probably in for a longer haul and so, it’s more books, more screen time, more curbside takeout, perhaps more cooking and baking, and definitely more walking for exercise.

ON SCREEN

Happy Valley (Netflix)

Set in a small Yorkshire village, this is anything but a happy crime drama.  In fact, the town is gritty and grotty and the crimes gruesome.  That said, I did watch it all and the Chief Penguin is now totally absorbed!  Thanks to Bruce and Pat for the recommendation.  

Former detective and now police sergeant, Catherine Cawood, lives with her sister Clare, a recovering addict, and her young grandson Ryan.  Divorced and still mourning the suicide of her daughter, Catherine becomes obsessed with the whereabouts of convicted rapist Tommy Lee Royce when he’s released from prison.  In a subplot that comes to the fore and involves a caravan park, a young woman is kidnapped, whereabouts unknown.  

James Norton (independent.co.uk)

For those of us who were serious Sydney fans (as in Grantchester), it’s  shocking to see James Norton as a reprehensible bad guy.  Series 1 is six episodes and there is a second series, but it isn’t on Netflix yet.

The Night Manager (Amazon Prime)

This John LeCarre novel makes for suspenseful viewing!  Night hotel porter, Jonathan Pine, is recruited to get on the inside circle of international businessman, Richard Roper, who is involved in suspect arms deals.  The settings are numerous and some gorgeous, while the cast is superb.  Tom Hiddlestone as Pine, a man of many identities, is perfect and great to look at, while Hugh Laurie as Roper is effortlessly the main man, and Olivia Colman as Angela Burr of MI6 is like a terrier in her pursuit of Roper.  Great escapism!

RECENT READING

The Sacrament by Olaf Olafsson

Olafsson was born in Iceland and has an unusual background for a novelist.  A corporate executive for much of his career, he worked first for SONY and then later on for Time Warner in New York.  Nominally an investigation of an incident of child abuse at a school twenty years ago, it is also a story about a nun whose life has been shaped by her own closeted sexual desires and by the power of the Catholic clergy.  Based in France and enjoying tending her rose garden, Sister Johnna is called upon to return to Iceland and to meet with the young man who was the child victim.  But there was another death at that time.  

(nytimes.com)

The novel brings together Sister Johanna’s reflections on her studies in Paris and her friendship with Halla, her reckoning with the role she played at the school, and her recognition of her own and others’ shortcomings.  Ranging back and forth in time and in Sister Johnna’s memory, the novel can be hard to follow and is sometimes so oblique as to be puzzling.  I liked it better the farther into I got, but I never felt I couldn’t put it down, even though the ending had a twist. (~JWFarrington)

CURBSIDE CUISINE

A few words about local restaurants and curbside pick-up.  The Chief Penguin and I have made it a goal to order takeout from smaller restaurants at least once, if not twice, a week.  Thus far, we have enjoyed dinners from Alice’s Ristorante Italiano (a mom and pop operation), Bonefish Grill, and Swordfish Grill in Cortez.  In all cases, the meals have been well packaged for transit, and, generally delivered right to the car and put in the backseat.  Mostly, you can both order and pay over the phone or online.  For Alice’s, you pay when you do the pickup.  We have found the portions generous and usually enough for the next day’s lunch.  

We also did a second curbside pick-up of an online order from Artisan Cheese in Sarasota.  Besides cheese, they have been offering soups, mac and cheese and wine by the bottle.  Sadly, they can no longer continue and so, after this week, they will close for the time being. Thank you, Cheese Louise! May it be a short closure.

Note: Header image of Hope is from 123rf.com

Tidy Tidbits: Sheltering at Home

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CONNECTING WITH ZOOM

This week I went from never having used Zoom for meetings to having three encounters.  I now consider myself semi-experienced!  Once you have the Zoom app on your phone, iPad or computer, it’s easy to be invited to participate.  The most novel interaction was the birthday party on Monday afternoon that our daughter-in-law organized for our granddaughter who was turning 4.  They are staying north of Manhattan, the other grandparents are in Connecticut, F’s aunt is in Manhattan, and the Chief Penguin and I are hunkering down at home in Florida.  We could all see each other in our respective online boxes. 

Our son had baked a cake with pink frosting and sprinkles; we sang to F., she excitedly blew out the candles, and they ate cake while we all watched.  Then she had presents to open.  Conversation flowed, and topics ranged from the availability of toilet paper to what each of us was planning for dinner!  A successful event and a great way to feel a part of F’s away-from-home celebration.

Later in the week, we had a virtual dinner party with good Philadelphia friends.  We had each done curbside pick-up of our dinners and then enjoyed wine and conversation while showing off our various entrees.  On Friday, I conducted a condo board meeting which had 33 people online.  For this, I practiced, received helpful tutelage from a savvy neighbor, and took a webinar on Zoom basics.  

In these strange and unusual times, there will be more Zooming on my calendar—meet-ups with siblings, for starters.  Hope you too are finding ways to stay connected with friends and family, whether it be by phone, e-mail, Facetime, Zoom or whatever!

BURIED IN A GOOD BOOK

Savannah by Eugenia Price

When I was in Savannah in February (which seems oh, so long ago now), I purchased this historical novel first published in 1977.  I’m sure I read some other novels by Ms. Price years ago, but this one intrigued me, obviously because of its focus on what is sometimes called the “Hostess City.”

The man character, Mark Browning, a young man of 20 who comes to Savannah from Philadelphia in 1812, is fictitious.  But Robert McKay, owner of a shipping company who becomes his mentor and good friend, was a real person as was his wife, Eliza, and their children.  McKay was a leading citizen of the time and actively involved in civic affairs and in a local auxiliary militia.  Mark is attracted to Eliza and to Caroline Cameron, a young lady of his generation, who has been raised mostly by her grandfather in a family with a complicated and contentious history.  The novel is as much about the growth and development of the city of Savannah (its churches, municipal buildings, agriculture and industry, and its beautiful squares) as it is Mark’s coming-of-age story.

Wright Square (youtube.com)

Eugenia Price was born on St. Simon’s Island and died in 1996.  In addition to her fourteen historical novels, she was well known as a Christian writer and speaker.  She penned a number of non-fiction works related to the Bible and Christian living.  Given the time (early 19th century) and place (the South) it’s probably not surprising that religion plays an important role in these characters’ lives.  Even with that, however, some contemporary readers may find the references to God’s wishes and God’s knowledge a bit much.  

It’s long (more than five hundred pages) and slowly unfolds; possibly making it perfect for this strange time when we are so much at home.  I enjoyed it and could picture some of the buildings and squares from my recent visit.  Now, I need to decide if I want to delve into the next book in Price’s Savannah Quartet.   (~JWFarrington)

Tidy Tidbits: Staying Home

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COVID-19 & STAYING HOME

Other than one trip to the supermarket, we have not left our island neighborhood for the past week.  We are fortunate to be having gorgeous weather (sunny and warm) and have walked our boulevard each morning and then gone to the pool in the late afternoon—always mindful of keeping an appropriate distance from each other.  In between, cooking or baking, reading, and viewing have been the main activities.  Plus, a lot of shopping online.

With restaurants only allowed to offer curbside pick-up or delivery, we will be experimenting with that in the next few days.  For my local friends, both Alice’s Ristorante Italiano (formerly A Casa Tua) and Bonefish Grill either are already or will be offering revised menus.  

SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE!

Like restaurants, independent bookstores face the challenge of staying in business since they can no longer invite customers into their physical spaces.  If you value your own local bookstore, order books from them online.  You can probably pick them up curbside or have them mailed to your home.  Yes, it will cost you more than going the Amazon route, but thinking ahead, don’t you want them to still be here when the pandemic subsides?  Here’s an article about this topic.  And here’s a link to my favorite Sarasota bookstore where I just ordered several titles to be mailed.  

IMMERSED IN A BOOK

Say Nothing:  A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

Jean McConville (thetimes.co.uk)

When there are no lectures, plays or concerts to go to, it’s possible to spend more time reading.  I mentioned this book about the Troubles in my last blog and this week, I devoted myself to completing it.  Once I got fully into it (it took me a chapter or two as there are a lot of factions with different names and acronyms to keep straight!), I got caught up in the lives of the principals:  Dolours and Marian Price, Brendan Hughes, and Gerry Adams (all IRA members who participated in deadly violence), and in the impact on the McConville children whose 38-year old mother, Jean, was dragged from their home one evening in 1972 and never returned.  She was one of the aptly called “disappeared.”  For decades her children sought to locate her body.  

This is a tale of religious conflict, hatred of the British, bombings, imprisonment, hunger strikes, and double agents.  For thirty years, Northern Ireland, especially Belfast, was not a safe nor a pretty place to be.  Even after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, lingering resentment and outrage were the order of the day for some. 

 I found Keefe’s narrative nonfiction both compelling and chilling.   He explores the actions and interactions of the infamous Price sisters over several decades along with the transformation of Gerry Adams from revolutionary commander to savvy politician to elder statesman, Adams all the while denying he was ever a member of the IRA.  Also fascinating for me, a former librarian, was learning about the secret archival interview project housed at Boston College.  The interview with Dolours Price, for example, was intended to be unavailable until after her death.  What protections were not put in place and what the college didn’t know later resulted in subpoenas and lawsuits.  A long read, but absorbing and rewarding. (~JWFarrington)

CURRENT VIEWING

With movie theaters closed, it’s now possible to rent and watch first run movies from several different streaming sources.  The Chief Penguin found Vudu.com (I had suggested Hulu, but somehow, he ended up here), and together we created a list of films to view.  First up last evening was Emma, which is also available through Apple TV.

Emma

(dailymail.co.uk)

I’ve seen several versions of Jane Austen’s Emma over the years, some I liked and some I didn’t (Clueless).  This Emma is Jane Austen on a romp.  For a story that is about emotions, meddling, and misunderstandings, there is a lot of physicality that makes it visually exciting.  The repeating line of schoolgirls in their long red capes, the twisting, twirling patterns of the ballroom dancing, the running or flinging onto grassy slopes (witness both Emma and Knightley). Add to this scenes of Knightley or Emma in various stages of dressing or undressing.  Coupled with this is a soundtrack of rousing folk melodies, almost hymns, providing transition between scenes.  

Against this visual and aural background, you have an Emma who is always perfectly coiffed and stylishly put together, arrogant, convinced of her rightness, and rude.  You don’t dislike her totally; you see her gradually become aware of the error of her ways, thanks in part to Mr. Knightley.  And, as is the norm for Austen, all comes right in the end!  I found the film a perfect entertainment.  (~JWFarrington)